


Our Farewell

by raiast



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Prisoner Hannibal Lecter, Why aren't they togeher yet, Will Graham Angst, Will Graham admitting some truths, but only to himself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 03:25:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16297286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raiast/pseuds/raiast
Summary: A look inside Will's mind during what he believes is his final goodbye with Hannibal.





	Our Farewell

Hannibal’s request hung in the air between them, and it felt like a thicker barrier than the plastic that caged him.

_Think about me, Will. Don’t worry about me._

Will stepped up to the wall and splayed his hand across it. For a moment he half-expected Hannibal to close the remaining distance and meet him there, but the man stood stock-still as Will stared on. He let out a shaky sigh. “You turned yourself in so I would always know where you were,” _to spite me_ , a voice in the back of his mind added, “But you’d only do that if I rejected you.” He studied Hannibal for a moment, wondering if that would elicit some kind of response from him. Wondering if he only said it to see if he could shatter that perfectly calm façade and evoke a real emotion. When the only movement that came from Hannibal was the soft rise and fall of his chest from steady breaths, Will pulled his hand away. “Goodbye.”

He turned away and headed towards the door. It felt like a final goodbye. It _should_ be a final goodbye. Will needed to return to his wife and child, to do his best to scrape together a normal life and never see or think about Hannibal Lecter again. He wasn’t so sure that that was entirely possible. If he were honest with himself, he could admit that he was less sure yet that that was truly what he wanted. Would it bring him happiness to erase the complication that was Hannibal from his mind and soul? Could Molly and Walter ever truly fill the void that destroying such a large part of him would create? Did he deserve to be happy at all? He was ready to run from the room, the hospital, the state, back home or not, maybe he’d just keep running, when Hannibal’s voice called out to him softly.

“Will.”

Will turned, despite his better judgement. Despite every rational part of him knowing that no good could come from extending this farewell.

Hannibal stood at the edge of his prison. Will had a feeling he’d have kept moving towards him had he been afforded the opportunity. “Was it good to see me?”

An unexpected, irrational anger surged through Will at the question. “ _Good_?” he repeated. Not good. Necessary. Needed. Inevitable. His ire flared when he allowed himself to admit (internally, of course, he would never admit it to Lecter) that the necessity of seeing him had not really been borne of a stalled investigation, but an unexplainable and irrefutable, overwhelming desire. The pull that this man, his psychiatrist, his friend, his enemy and his anchor still held over him even after three years of silence. Seeing him again felt like food for his starving soul. Made it abundantly clear that the normal, quiet life he’d tried to staple together over the last three years had been a sham. That it would never make him feel the way that he did before, even as he believed he was losing his mind and his freedom was jeopardized by crimes he didn’t commit. Seeing him again only rekindled the ache that he felt when he imagined how things could have played out differently all those years ago.

“No.”

Will left.


End file.
